LIVELIHOOD INITIATIVE. Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Emmanuel Piñol (2nd from right) leads the signing of a memorandum of agreement with the agency's partners for an agribusiness initiative that would provide livelihood opportunities to underdeveloped and post-conflict communities in Mindanao on Tuesday in Maramag, Bukidnon. With him are MinDA's partners Maramag Mayor Jose Joel Doromal (extreme right), Central Mindanao University (CMU) president, Dr. Jose Antonio Derije (2nd from left) and iFresh Operations and Finance Controller Ms. Noelyn Quimque (extreme left). (Photo courtesy of MinDA)
DAVAO CITY -- The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and its partners signed a memorandum of agreement Tuesday to kick-start agribusiness programs that would provide livelihood opportunities to underdeveloped and post-conflict communities in Mindanao.
MinDA Secretary Emmanuel "Manny" Piñol said the agreement with the Central Mindanao University (CMU) and iFresh Corporation that was signed in Maramag, Bukidnon province, aims to help poor communities and former rebels to become productive and self-sufficient entrepreneurs.
Piñol said the agribusiness initiative is also open to former overseas Filipino workers and victims of earthquakes which hit Mindanao last year.
"To sustain the peace and development gains of the Duterte administration, we have started these intervention programs to help transform war zones into economic development zones and deliver meaningful socio-economic interventions through access to livelihood opportunities," he said.
Dubbed as "New Harmonizing Opportunities for People Empowerment" (New Hope) Program, Piñol said the initiative enables MinDA to collaborate with state universities and colleges, and other higher education institutions in developing training centers across Mindanao.
“These centers will offer short training courses on agribusiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy,” Piñol said.
Maramag Mayor Josel Joel Doromal said the New Hope program is consistent with the Executive Order 70, which instituted the "whole-of-nation" to address local communist conflicts.
"These projects address development issues in all fronts -- from insurgency, livelihood, to peace and order," Doromal said.
Following the signing of the agreement, Piñol said Central Mindanao University will house a center for learning, research and propagation for free-range chicken and other poultry varieties.
Dr. Jesus Antonio Derije, CMU president, said that once established the center will also be positioned as a tourism destination with complete biosecurity features.
"We are looking at this facility as a 'chicken haven', which will showcase local varieties of chicken in Mindanao," Derije said.
After receiving training in the centers, recipients will be enrolled in the Livelihood in Villages for Economic Upliftment (LOVE-U), a grassroots program where beneficiaries are provided with the necessary capital to jumpstart their respective agribusiness ventures.
MinDA, together with iFresh as private sector partner, will be assisting in marketing and in linking these communities to potential buyers in both local and international markets.
Piñol said that a business group from Qatar has shown interest in buying free-range chicken from Mindanao.
"This is simple and practical agriculture. We need to give people the opportunity to raise chicken not just for food, but as a way to make a living," he added. (PNA)
